Author: Gwangi

My name is Arthur but I go by Gwangi on the blogs and forums, as homage to the old dinosaur and monster movies I love so much. In addition to writing about and collecting toy animals (extinct and extant) I also share my home with a variety of living animals, mostly reptiles but a little bit of everything. I have a lifelong interest in all things nature and natural history and most of my hobbies can be linked to those things in some way. I currently live in Maryland with my wife and daughters. In addition to writing on here I also write magazine articles, typically about local wildlife and aquarium fishes.

All reviews by this author

Review: Triceratops (AAA)

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3 (7 votes)
While most of the toys produced by AAA could be regarded as mid-way between quality museum models and cheaply produced “Chinasaurs” there are quite a few that tread into that cheap Chinasaur territory. AAA toys span several years and I don’t know when production first began but some of the toys certainly seem a good deal older than some of their later products.

Review: Ankylosaurus (AAA)

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2.5 (10 votes)
Every dinosaur obsessed child of the 80’s and 90’s no doubt had a few AAA toy dinosaurs in their collection. Although poorly represented on the DTB the toy company AAA produced a large assortment of dinosaur and other animal toys but the quality on them was always a little hit or miss.

Review: Eurypterid (Eurypterus remipes) (Paleozoic Pals)

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5 (6 votes)
Eurypterids, popularly known as “sea scorpions” are among the more charismatic of extinct invertebrates, and rightly so. Although they weren’t true scorpions these aquatic arthropods were an extremely successful group of predators that dominated both fresh and saltwater environments between 470–252 million years ago. Although most only reached about 8” the largest genus (Jaekelopterus) reached 8’, making them the largest arthropods to have ever lived.

Review: Torvosaurus (Deluxe Prehistoric Collection by CollectA)

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4.6 (16 votes)
While Allosaurus has been a long time favorite among Jurassic theropods there has been a growing fan base for the large megalosaurid genus, Torvosaurus. The genus has now become popular enough that whenever wish list discussions about what toy makers should release next come up it’s always mentioned.

Review: Barapasaurus (The First Giants by Schleich)

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3.1 (15 votes)
Now here’s a dinosaur you don’t see every day. In fact, until this model was announced I had never even heard of the “big-legged lizard” and assuming you might not have either we’ll do a short introduction. Barapasaurus is a genus of sauropod that was discovered in India and lived in the early Jurassic.

Review: Velociraptor (The Lost World: Jurassic Park Series 1 by Kenner)

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4.5 (13 votes)
In my desperation to review a dinosaur model I found something I can review that technically may have been reviewed here already, sort of. In 2010 Marc (Horridus) reviewed the Kenner Jurassic Park Velociraptor for the blog. And yes, this is indeed the same toy that he reviewed.

Review: Woolly Mammoth (Inpro)

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1.9 (7 votes)
Looking back again at the toys of yesteryear we have another little Inpro figurine dug out of my attic, this time it’s a woolly mammoth. Inpro would produce only two mammals for their collection; this mammoth and the equally popular Smilodon. According to the date stamped on its underside this toy was produced in 1972 and while mammoth toys are almost a dime a dozen this one is sufficiently interesting enough to be worth taking a look at.

Review: Protoceratops (Inpro)

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2.6 (5 votes)
If any of you have been wondering why I’ve been slacking off on reviews lately I have a good excuse, I just don’t have a lot left to review! Almost my entire collection has been reviewed already by myself or others, with minor exception. So in order to review something I’ve had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, literally.

Review: Styracosaurus (CollectA)

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2.2 (17 votes)
The many-horned Styracosaurus is one of those dinosaurs you’ll see produced by just about every toy company. In terms of ceratopsian popularity it only plays second fiddle to Triceratops, although Pachyrhinosaurus may have pushed it down a peg. And there are a lot of good Styracosaurus to choose from Battat, Papo, Carnegie, Wild Safari, Favorite etc.
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